Greetings: Representing the Alumni
Richard Crespin, BA ’93
President, the George Washington Alumni Association

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. My name is Richard Crespin, and I am the President of the George Washington University Alumni Association, and it is, indeed, my pleasure on behalf of the nearly 220,000 living alumni around the world, to welcome President Knapp to GW and to welcome all of you to this inauguration of our new President.

President Knapp, we as alumni have a special connection to this University. When we set foot on campus, we are simultaneously at, and of, GW. We are at GW, experiencing it as the special place that it is, as a University in the very heart of our nation’s capitol, and we are of GW, because GW is part of us. For each of us, the University has played a vital role in the formation of our character—who we are as people, and how we interact with the world around us. As the University shaped us, so we shape the world.

We, in turn, have a special obligation to ensure the continued success of this institution and a special obligation to help the people who occupy the Office of President of this University as they take responsibility for the vision that is GW.

President Knapp, we as alumni are stewards of the University. Our living alumni look back into the past and look forward into the future. We have an unparalleled and unique perspective on the institution. We are at, and of, GW, because we are a living part of the institution itself, its representatives in everything that we do.

Because we are at, and of, GW, we must carefully steward its legacy, and guide it for the benefit of generations of alumni in the making—our students—and generations of alumni yet to come. President Knapp, you now join us as a steward of this institution. As President of the Alumni Association, it is my honor and my privilege to welcome you and your wife, Diane, to the GW family, and to offer you every help we, as alumni, can provide for the success of your presidency, and of your stewardship.

As President of the Alumni Association, I also want you to know, the alumni, and indeed every member of the GW community, will support you as you join us in being at, and of, GW. Thank you.